Article excerpt

Today's court appearance by Anders Behring Breivik, the Norway
gunman charged in a July bombing and shooting spree that killed 77
people, was the first chance for press and victims' relatives to
hear him speak.

Several hundred people packed Oslo District Court to hear Anders
Behring Breivik, the Norwegian gunman charged in twin terror
attacks on July 22, speak before press and victims for the first
time since the attacks, which killed 77 people.

The country is still haunted by the national tragedy that shocked
the normally quiet Nordic nation, which was hoping that today's
public hearing would give some insight into what kind of man could
commit such violence.

The 32-year-old Breivik appeared composed, dressed in a dark suit
with light blue tie, for his open court custody hearing. He sat face
to face with about 80 members of the press and 50 survivors,
victims' relatives, and victims rights' attorneys.

Breivik stared somberly toward the prosecution for most of
the 25-minute hearing. He pleaded not guilty to the terror charges
but only after being cut off by justice Torkjel Nesheim as he
launched into one of several diatribes during the court proceedings.

"I am a military commander in the Norwegian military resistance
movement... and a Knight Templar," Breivik replied, when asked his
plea. "[The court has] a mandate from those that support
multiculturalism."

The judge granted the prosecution's request to extend his custody
by 12 weeks, but relaxed the current ban on letters and visits,
which will now be allowed but monitored, for the next eight weeks.
He extended the ban on access to media by four more weeks.

Breivik has been in custody for 16 weeks, essentially in solitary
confinement. He is awaiting trial, expected in April, for bombing a
government building and carrying out a mass shooting spree on a
political youth camp being held on the island of Utoya.

The two attacks are Norway's worst national tragedy since World
War II.

newslook

Herman Heggertveit, a "relieved" 18-year old Labor Party youth
member who survived the Utoya attack, says it was "therapy" for him
to see Breivik in court. …